The Genesis of Central Intelligence

For more than 230 years, the United States
has carried on foreign intelligence activities. Before World War II, however, these
activities were never coordinated on a government-wide basis.

With the United States’ entry
into World War II seemingly inevitable, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created
the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI). Established in July 1941, the
COI was the first peacetime, civilian intelligence agency. America's entry
into World War II in December of that year prompted new thinking about the
place and role of the COI.

OSS – The
Beginning

As a result, the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS) was established in June 1942. The OSS–the forerunner to the CIA–had a mandate
to collect and analyze strategic information required by the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Members of the OSS
also conducted special operations not assigned to other agencies.

During the war, the OSS supplied policymakers
with essential facts and often played an important role in directly aiding
military campaigns. However, the OSS
never received complete jurisdiction over all foreign intelligence activities.
The FBI was officially responsible for intelligence work in Latin
America when its Secret Intelligence Service was established in
June 1940. Military branches also conducted intelligence operations in their
areas of responsibility.

President Harry S. Truman, who succeeded FDR
in April 1945, felt no obligation to retain OSS after the war. The OSS was officially abolished in October 1945.
However, the OSS's
analytic, collection, and counterintelligence functions were transferred on a
smaller scale to the State and War departments.

The Establishment of CIG

President Truman soon
recognized the need for a centralized intelligence system. He established the
Central Intelligence Group (CIG) in January 1946. The CIG had two missions:
providing strategic warning and conducting clandestine activities. Unlike the OSS, it had access to
all-source intelligence.

The CIG functioned under the direction of a
National Intelligence Authority, which was composed of a presidential
representative and the secretaries of State, War and Navy. The Deputy Chief of
Naval Intelligence, Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, USNR, was appointed the
first Director of Central Intelligence. Twenty months later, the National
Intelligence Authority and the CIG were disestablished.

National Security Act of 1947: The Creation of CIA

The National Security Council
(NSC) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were created under the
provisions of the National Security Act of 1947, which President Truman signed
on July 26, 1947. The CIA came into existence on Sept. 18. The 1947 Act charged
the CIA with coordinating the nation's intelligence activities and correlating,
evaluating, and disseminating intelligence which affects national security. In
1949, the Central Intelligence Agency Act was passed, supplementing the 1947
Act. This Act is the statutory authority which allows for the secrecy of the
Agency's budget.

On December 17, 2004,
President George W. Bush signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act which restructured the Intelligence Community by abolishing the
position of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Deputy Director of
Central Intelligence (DDCI) and creating the position the Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA). The Act also created the position of
Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which oversees the Intelligence
Community and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).